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Topic: Leg 1 Designs (Read 4961 times)

What really annoyed me about this leg (and practically every SL since I started obsessively watching since TAR17) is that how incredibly linear they are.

TAR17 - Two nonlinear tasks (RB slightly and boat rowing) GOOD JOB TAR17 you went well at this!TAR18 - That decoding thing was really the only nonlinear task so you score poorly TAR18 even though you screwed over the cowboys <3 but then tbc </3TAR19 - 1-2 nonlinear tasks (memory challenge and rowing) so good job TAR19 you do well ^_^TAR20 - One task: empanadas. TAR20 at least put this at the end to keep the drama up.TAR21 - TAR21 ACTUALLY BEING GOOD AT SOMETHING <333 3/3 tasks were nonlinear <33333TAR22 - One task max because the boat task really didn't affect much at all :X And it was luck, ugh.TAR23 - One task again TAR24 - One task, right at the start, and a luck task but that doesn't really count :X

TAR needs to fix this. Especially TAR24 I feel that the leg should have been a NEL, and also congratulations for TAR21 actually performing well in something <333

I kinda agree on all counts with you Air, except some, but I'm feeling like typing a LOT so here goes

TAR18: It was an eh premiere, but the sharks and sailing task looked pretty in HD and the decoding task caused Cowboys to struggle so props to that.

TAR 19: I really really liked it. Even though the tasks were simple, it was a very simple and fun premiere. The billboards were a tricky and well done mental clue, the dragon boats were linear but it was good too as a task, and the telephone was mildly entertaining. The Hazard though was basically a way to show teams in the ads like "THE AMAZING RACE! *cue team screaming and doing something extreme*. Still a great leg though.

TAR 20: The leg design was eh, but the meltdowns were pretty fun.

TAR 21: I fell asleep. Not kidding. And I wasn't even excited for the premiere, the only thing I genuinely remember about this leg was "I liked Abbie & Ryan and Chips and Twinnies. Bye."

"But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of timeHoney, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the timeI've got a list of names and yours is in red, underlinedI check it once, then I check it twice (oh)"

I think the non-linear aspect of it gave the editors an opportunity to segregate the editing properly so that there's little confusion?

I hate it, but to be honest they can actually afford a 2nd RB task that is based on luck to jumble up the teams' ranking like in Season 22. But I guess sometimes a lot of what we see happen on the race comes with a factor of luck from the combination of teams and the things they do?

For example, this season premiere will be boring as hell if Nadiya and Natalie didn't get lost... and we all know it will be Youtube getting eliminated when it's about 35 minutes into the episode (if you are not spoiled in anyway).

PS: Who cares if they do 5 turns in the air in Guangzhou? I'll rather them do some traditional folk dance or eat some gross food.

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"The Amazing Race shows the best and worst out of you. But if only negative things are shown, then it's probably you. - Jobby"

Someone should have misdirected the cowboys and lead them to Beijing tbh

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"But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of timeHoney, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the timeI've got a list of names and yours is in red, underlinedI check it once, then I check it twice (oh)"

Someone should have misdirected the cowboys and lead them to Beijing tbh

Did the cowboys get any help this leg? Can't remember. lol

It was edited out of the episode. Weird. Maybe because they desperately wanted to edit in "we're running this race on our own"

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"But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of timeHoney, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the timeI've got a list of names and yours is in red, underlinedI check it once, then I check it twice (oh)"

Even Romber happily embraced their fans help from all around the world.

Tbh, I think the starting line task is horribly lame. If you're only going to have a task to show how 4 teams got it, don't do it.

They literally put other characters like Beijing or some had no words on them. Seriously, it's so pictorial even someone who doesn't know Chinese knows that the words are not right. Why didn't they play with the characters? The words GUANG ZHOU in Chinese isn't hard to tweak to add a few strokes here and there to mess with the characters. If they had done it and some teams actually got it wrong, it would have been so much more exciting. The start line task in TAR 15 was so much better (minus the elimination of Eric and Lisa).

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"The Amazing Race shows the best and worst out of you. But if only negative things are shown, then it's probably you. - Jobby"

For me the part I hate the most in premiers are the thrilling skydiving and other action tasks in the leg, because they really don't do anything but take up air time and help with advertising. I have never liked them because there is not a swap in positions at all and signups play a big part in how the leg ends up.

Even with TAR24 we see thrilling tasks like backflips and heights with Canton Tower but not really any meaningful tasks.

If they just get rid of the gimmick heights/thrill stuff they would be SOOOO much better

Finding the proper wedding store was not a statement of luck. Teams needed to pay attention to their surroundings, find out directions from locals, and seek out these locations to get their clue. There was plenty of shuffling of teams because lots of teams weren't paying enough attention.

Teams were not told to go to the Canton Tower. They were given a cryptic clue. Lots of people have been missing these, so here they are again. It leaves it up to teams to figure out where to go next, instead of just leading them there.

The ferris wheel challenge did have an element of luck, but only partially. This task tested two skills for team members. Firstly, it tested whether they could use an efficient logical approach to answer a question they didn't have an answer to. (Which bubbles have a clue? Well, if this one is wrong we will try the next one. That way we won't have to wait for the one we pick to go all the way around <- This way of thinking is rewarded since every other bubble had a clue). Additionally, it taught teams to be perceptive. Though it's a nice view, sharp-minded teams would not be spending their ride in an "incorrect" bubble just standing there. They would be looking to see which teams had been successful. They would use this to deduce that even bubbles had the clue. This was the twinnies' downfall.

The only thing I do dislike is the Roadblock. No argument there.

And though it ultimately did not end up happening, the trip to the Pit Stop had potential to shuffle some teams. They were told to travel on foot, but weren't told that the opera house was basically across the street from the stadium. Teams could've not done a spot check and ended up walking miles away.

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For me the luck task at Canton Tower was somewhat disappointing because I was expecting that if you find a clue in the bubble you take it instead of letting other teams go in to the same one that was used. I don't blame the teams that did that strategy at all, I would of done it myself but I think it wasn't the task I was expecting.

For me the luck task at Canton Tower was somewhat disappointing because I was expecting that if you find a clue in the bubble you take it instead of letting other teams go in to the same one that was used. I don't blame the teams that did that strategy at all, I would of done it myself but I think it wasn't the task I was expecting.

They tried that in TAR Asia 1, and it resulted in a MASSIVE luck-based shifting of teams. Sandy & Francesca fell hours behind from their lead.

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Finding the proper wedding store was not a statement of luck. Teams needed to pay attention to their surroundings, find out directions from locals, and seek out these locations to get their clue. There was plenty of shuffling of teams because lots of teams weren't paying enough attention.

Teams were not told to go to the Canton Tower. They were given a cryptic clue. Lots of people have been missing these, so here they are again. It leaves it up to teams to figure out where to go next, instead of just leading them there.

The ferris wheel challenge did have an element of luck, but only partially. This task tested two skills for team members. Firstly, it tested whether they could use an efficient logical approach to answer a question they didn't have an answer to. (Which bubbles have a clue? Well, if this one is wrong we will try the next one. That way we won't have to wait for the one we pick to go all the way around <- This way of thinking is rewarded since every other bubble had a clue). Additionally, it taught teams to be perceptive. Though it's a nice view, sharp-minded teams would not be spending their ride in an "incorrect" bubble just standing there. They would be looking to see which teams had been successful. They would use this to deduce that even bubbles had the clue. This was the twinnies' downfall.

The only thing I do dislike is the Roadblock. No argument there.

And though it ultimately did not end up happening, the trip to the Pit Stop had potential to shuffle some teams. They were told to travel on foot, but weren't told that the opera house was basically across the street from the stadium. Teams could've not done a spot check and ended up walking miles away.

Well it was still a luck task because teams either got it on their first try or second try, which is a difference of 30 minutes based completely on luck. There is a small loss of time if teams are conservative or will go on even numbers but that will only change times a little bit, the big thing that changed positions was the luck aspect and I am not a fan of that part.

For me the luck task at Canton Tower was somewhat disappointing because I was expecting that if you find a clue in the bubble you take it instead of letting other teams go in to the same one that was used. I don't blame the teams that did that strategy at all, I would of done it myself but I think it wasn't the task I was expecting.

THIS THIS THIS! Clues also should not have been in sequenced order It was unimaginative and lazy.

I think this premier is OK. At least better than the crap TAR 23 premier which boring as hell, who even care for rowing in some dock.

The wedding shop was good, it required a lot of navigation ability and language barrier. The Ferris wheel was acceptable. It didn't entirely base on luck and the even number trick was pretty cool.

The only weak point of this leg was RB and pit stop. I don't know what the producer think but this is ALL STAR! All the racer must have prepared themselves and have a lot of experience. But this RB was stupid. It take about 5 minutes to complete it and no team ever struggled. Then more worse at the end by put the pit stop just across the street. So it was linear as hell.

I still think the best premier was from TAR10. Fair task between mental and physical. Dramatic and unexpected twist. Good team introduction.

I guess I'm on the outskirts on this one. I really get the Race differently than you guys

The only wrong thing about any episode 1 is that they always feel rushed. With eleven teams to cover, you have to scrape off some of the moments, and not even show teams arriving at certain markers (I read somewhere that it wasn't shown that John and Jennifer finished or even did the Roadblock). The only thing we could ask is for them to extend the first episode to a one and a half hour one so more of what happens is actually shown to happen.

In TAR 24 in particular, the only thing that is lacking is the Roadblock. It was a nod to the Asian Games and it probably was a lot of fun for the racers (it's one thing to consider, guys), but it's basically a 'take a number and stand in line' task, so very linear.

The Canton Tower task is a great 'sifting' task (a batch of teams come in, half leaves with the next clue in hand, half has to start over). Though it wasn't action packed, it was a very intense waiting game for the teams. And the drama brought on by the Twinnies really rounded up the task.

The wedding dress shop hunt was also a great search task that REALLY shuffled teams up.

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This is familiar. I'm having flashbacks of death and almost dying. That's wonderful. - Debbie, S07E03

The main thing wrong with TAR 24's Leg One was, it focused on the WRONG tasks. It was very entertaining watching teams do the Wedding Shop task (NaNa mainly) and the Starting Line Task was pretty good, but the majority of the episode was spent on the Canton Tower task which was pretty boring aside from NaNa melting down. Not to mention the atrocious editing. They didn't even bother to show that the twins had a chance to survive. Not to mention that they didn't even show every team finishing the SLT.

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"But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of timeHoney, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the timeI've got a list of names and yours is in red, underlinedI check it once, then I check it twice (oh)"

When I finished watching TAR24's 1st episode, I was craving for more TAR24. Then I wished that this should've been a 90-min premiere or a 2-hr premiere. I missed those 90-or-120-minute premieres.

I felt exactly the same way! I was so stoked that it would at LEAST be a "you're still racing!" superleg, even if they waited until next week to show us. Then I wouldn't have even minded twinnies biting the bullet, at least they had a chance to fight for it. But this was just such a linear leg, with very little chance except the shuffle at the metro for teams to get ahead or fall back.

I think the premiere should always be a 90 minute at least episode, even if it's not a superleg, just have MORE on that first leg for a big challenge. At this point, anyone coming on the show has to have seen/heard of it, so they'll know what they're getting themselves into. Stop babying teams, especially all-stars, with tasks that don't challenge each skillset during that opening leg (i.e. there should be something with strength, something with navigation, something with intelligence, and something luck related.)

(...)Stop babying teams, especially all-stars, with tasks that don't challenge each skillset during that opening leg (i.e. there should be something with strength, something with navigation, something with intelligence, and something luck related.)

strength: the RB didn't look like it but it was physically demandingnavigation: finding an obscure store with only its name and address as a reference is quite a challengeintelligence: figuring out a cryptic clue and then figuring out the correct bubbles at the FW countsluck: the FW

so all in all, it was a fairly balanced leg, if you take out the ferns who spread misinformation. Also, if the leg was sol linear as some claim, then how come the Twinnies fell from being in the first flight to last place? I think the leg looked easy because we got almost no insight on how hard the tasks actually were because most of the time the edit focused on the Twinnies melting down.

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Well, if they had replaced the task at the stadium with some kind of bungee jumping task AND they had changed the Canton tower task with a more useful one (search the flag at the skyline, for example), then it would have been a better leg I think

(...)Stop babying teams, especially all-stars, with tasks that don't challenge each skillset during that opening leg (i.e. there should be something with strength, something with navigation, something with intelligence, and something luck related.)

strength: the RB didn't look like it but it was physically demandingnavigation: finding an obscure store with only its name and address as a reference is quite a challengeintelligence: figuring out a cryptic clue and then figuring out the correct bubbles at the FW countsluck: the FW

so all in all, it was a fairly balanced leg, if you take out the ferns who spread misinformation. Also, if the leg was sol linear as some claim, then how come the Twinnies fell from being in the first flight to last place? I think the leg looked easy because we got almost no insight on how hard the tasks actually were because most of the time the edit focused on the Twinnies melting down.

True, it wasn't the most unbalanced leg, but in an All-Stars race I expect them to pull out ALL the stops for tasks. Flipping around five times right before you go directly to the pit stop without anything confusing to shuffle the order up? Not really an all-star set of tasks. True, the twinnies have themselves to blame for falling back during the dress shops, but there should have been more ways to shuffle the order - after all, some of these teams have raced TWICE before, potentially even twice in China already. They already have those basic things down, knock the tough teams down a peg with some twists right off the bat.

Not to mention, having difficult tasks (that are still easy for Phil to explain to the camera) make for a much more entertaining season opener.

The only crazy, screaming premiere I've purely liked is TAR14's visit to Switzerland since nothing was based on luck (maybe travel decisions, but that's always a given), and it balanced Europe's highest bungee jump and the infamous cheese hill in a perfect manner. Editors during pre-HD were significantly better than the ones we have now. The episodes' "high stakes" quality tells it all.

I think it's only the last 2 seasons' 1st legs that are bringing us an awful premiere. Back then I was really excited seeing 12 or 11 teams racing around the 1st leg. I think TAR should make TAR25's 1st leg with:- A classic format, like when teams finish a task and they get a departure time for the next leg. At least the 1st team eliminated gets to race for more than a day.- They should have the 1st leg in Africa. I think only TAR1 did this. - Honestly imo, I wanna see all 12 or 11 teams racing the 2nd leg, but this one depends on budget.- More exciting tasks on the 1st leg? I think that's not hard for TAR to do.

I definitely missed out some things here.I think I should post this on "Changes Viewers Want to See" thread, but this is specifically talking about the 1st leg.

I think it's only the last 2 seasons' 1st legs that are bringing us an awful premiere. Back then I was really excited seeing 12 or 11 teams racing around the 1st leg. I think TAR should make TAR25's 1st leg with:- A classic format, like when teams finish a task and they get a departure time for the next leg. At least the 1st team eliminated gets to race for more than a day.- They should have the 1st leg in Africa. I think only TAR1 did this. - Honestly imo, I wanna see all 12 or 11 teams racing the 2nd leg, but this one depends on budget.- More exciting tasks on the 1st leg? I think that's not hard for TAR to do.

I definitely missed out some things here.I think I should post this on "Changes Viewers Want to See" thread, but this is specifically talking about the 1st leg.

THIS! All of this! We had such good first legs back in the day, TAR 7 in Peru and in my opinion an underrated first leg in TAR 6 Iceland.